Enigma



An Enigma, as its name implies, is a mysterious looking creature. Featuring only one eye, they have honed their aiming skills a lot, and utilize them when firing upon their enemies. Using their arms to create energy bolts, the Enigma are archer-like creatures, and also possess strong armor to prevent them being thrown off guard by light gunfire.

Enigmas are creatures incarnated from statues by a very powerful dark spell. The caster of this spell is unknown.

Strategy (Dante)
Once the battle starts, the Enigmas will make a mid-pitch whirring sound as they start to build up arrows. If you are not good in timing, the best way is to run, roll, Dash or Sky Star sideways and keep shooting until they shatter.

More experienced players can perform a well-timed dodge with Dash, jump, or side roll, then close distance to battle them at close quarters. There are two types of arrows that the Enigmas fire: blue arrows, which are typically not well-aimed, and red arrows, which tend to appear in higher difficulties, are highly accurate, and deal more damage.

Dante is capable of destroying arrows that are about to hit him with a properly-timed Revolver, and using Ultimate (Royal Guard) will absorb the arrows without fail, but a nearly fail-safe method to confront them is to use Nevan; holding down the melee key will summon bats that swarm near Dante. When the Enigma's arrows strike these bats, they will shatter. Simply press and hold the button as necessary to summon more bats (they will fly off toward their targets after a few seconds) to maintain the shield.

An interesting but possibly little-known characteristic of Enigmas is that if the camera view is facing Dante but between the Enigma and Dante, they will not attack (for example, in the map 'Living Statue Room', where the camera is fixed to face the entrance door when Dante is standing near it). You can use this to great advantage by controlling the camera angle and attacking with your guns and ranged attacks such as Sword Pierce and Drive.

If you have Beowulf, run near them and perform a jump strike because Beowulf can do a 1-hit-kill on any Enigmas.

Strategy (Vergil)
Vergil has a much easier time defeating Enigmas. Since he's capable of firing his Summoned Swords even when not standing still, he can simply repeatedly side roll while firing until they are destroyed. Even if there is no clear path to hit the Enigma with them, he can use Spiral Swords and perform Sword Storm.

In close quarters, he can use Stinger to close distance and knock the Enigma down, then proceed with other combos. Vergil's Lunar Phase is also capable of destroying arrows that strike him if the move is well-timed. If Vergil is airborne when the Enigma fires arrows at him, Starfall can destroy any arrows that are launched upward at him.

Like Dante, he can also use the camera angle to his advantage to avoid being attacked altogether. In these cases, or when it's generally safe to remain still, Vergil can use Roundtrip to complement his Summoned Swords.

If you have Beowulf, run near them and perform a jump strike because Beowulf can do a 1-hit-kill on any Enigmas.